Everything's Coming Up Emily Kristen Morris!

By: Chelsea and Cynthia

Featuring: Emily Kristen Morris

Curious about what it feels like to defy gravity?

Us too...

This is why we were honored to sit down with our good friend and current Elphaba standby on the Broadway national tour of WICKED, Emily Kristen Morris! You might have seen her on TikTok or might be one of her 1.6 million followers. When she's not performing, Emily runs her voice studio, EKM Vocal Studio, where she teaches lessons, masterclasses, and workshops to passionate singers virtually worldwide.

So without further ado, let's jump right in!

Q: Tell us a little about how you came to be where you are now!

A: In high school, I knew I wanted to do musical theater professionally - I did the whole college audition process. and ended up going to Cincinnati Conservatory of Music for musical theater. I earned my BFA and it was a wonderful experience, our class got along so well - even to this day.

After graduating I moved to New York, did showcasing, and decided I needed to find a voice teacher. Not only because I wanted to keep training, but more than anything I knew that it would help me find a home and comfort in this new city. Voice teachers are so much more than just teachers of the voice - they are our mentors, they guide you in your career, but also guide you as a person.

I shopped around, tried a few first-time lessons, and then I met Chelsea and we immediately connected. 

I spent a year being non-union in New York and getting up at 4:00 AM to put my name on lists, and would just wait until 4:00 PM to be told, "Nevermind we're not seeing non-union actors". So I was just holding down a day job and paying rent and just exhausting myself as so many people do.

But then around the year mark of being in New York, I still hadn't booked anything, but then I booked three shows back to back, one of them being the national tour of Something Rotten, and for the first time I really felt like I made it. I had a great time and it was hard, but I made the best friends, saw so much of the country and I got to play an absolute dream role.

 Q: You're currently standing by for Elphaba on the National tour of Wicked - tell us a little bit about this casting process and how this came to be.

A: Coming out of the pandemic, I was wondering if I would ever get on a stage again, as all of us were. There were just like no auditions and the ones that were happening were all virtual and nobody was getting those virtual auditions.

But then I was really lucky to book a production of Side Show, which is kind of a little-known show from the nineties that originally starred Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner and it catapulted their careers. I had booked the role of Daisy at this theater company just outside of New York City called White Plains Performing Arts. I was just like so thrilled to be paid as an actor again, to perform again, and dig my teeth into this awesome role.

At one of the shows we performed, the woman playing my twin during intermission said to me, "I think Dan Micciche is in the audience - he's the music director for Wicked on Broadway". We finished the show and networking, is a scary thing but it's so important for our careers and I try to push myself past the cringe. 

My cast mate had told me he does coaching and I took that as the universe telling me I should do a coaching with this guy, maybe I could learn something from him, and what a cool new connection. 

It turned out that he had tagged me in his story on Instagram, so I took the risk and DM'd him, and expressed that it was cool he had come to the show, and that I would love to do coaching sometime. He ended up sending back paragraphs and voice memos sharing such warm and wonderful compliments. And he ended up asking if I had been in for Wicked... and by the next morning, I woke up with an audition for Elphaba. 

It's one of those stories that you hear in our business, where there's always some weird connection. Somehow someone sees you in a concert, sees you in a show, whatever. This is why you shouldn't stick your nose up at any performance opportunity - it could lead to something greater.

Anyway, Dan was amazing and did some coaching with me sort on his own time, like, sending me some voice memos, and was able to give technical advice. I filmed a tape of the initial sides and scene, sent it in, and then I didn't hear anything. Which was fine, because you never expect anything from something like that. So, I finished Side Show, went to Europe, got engaged and I was just having a regular summer.

Then, I booked the ensemble for the Les Mis tour and was going to understudy Fantine. I was excited to go back on the road and I wasn't thinking about auditioning at all anymore. But then in July, out of nowhere, I get an email from my agent with a forwarded message from the casting team at Wicked that literally just said, "Hey, an opening for the Elphaba standby just came out, is Emily still interested and available?"

 That kicked off this week and a half Wicked extravaganza where I got notes, I taped again, and then I got notes, and I taped again. And then I had a work session in the room with the music director and the associate director, then three days later I learned that I got it. From there I flew out to Minneapolis and started rehearsing.

Q: You've said before that for a long time you never really saw yourself in this role, or weren't sure if you were more of a Glina or an Elphaba. Where do you think that came from and how has that changed for you - or has it?

A: I felt a lot of imposter syndrome around this role, around auditioning for it, around rehearsing for it, by the time I was doing it, less so, but still because I felt that I didn't fit the mold, I felt like I have always been someone who lives in between types a little bit. 

Which is awesome, because it means that I can play a variety of roles. But at the same time, I still feel like I'm somewhere in between Elle Woods and Vivienne. I'm somewhere in between Nicola and Lauren in Kinky Boots.

I felt the same way about Wicked. I think growing up I thought I was a Glinda, I have blonde curly hair, she's girly and I'm girly - I really related to that. But I also knew that my voice tended toward Elphaba and when I'm honest with myself, the person I relate to most is Elphaba - she is such a proponent of justice, a self-advocate, smart, and a little bit headstrong and explosive.

I have all of these things in me, and they've gotten me in trouble in the past, just in the way that Elphaba deals with them. I just didn't know that my look would ever get me in the room. I had this whole thing about my jawline, that Elphaba's have to have really strong jawlines, which I don't have, so "I'll never play her". 

But the minute we started working on it and got past some of those mental blocks, it felt right so quickly for me.

Q: Share with us what it's like to be a standby for such a demanding role, and what a standby is versus an alternate or an understudy.

A: A standby is different than an understudy, as understudies are in the ensemble of a show and they understudy a lead. if the lead goes out because they're sick, tired, or needs a vacation - that understudy will get bumped up to the lead and what we call a swing will come from offstage into the ensemble.

Standbys are something that our industry does typically for highly demanding roles, things like Elphaba in Wicked, or Hugh Jackman had a standby in Music Man. Standbys are not on stage, we are off stage standing by specifically because they want someone totally rested and ready to go if and when that lead actor needs to call out.

It's an interesting job because depending on the actor you're standing by for sort of dictates a lot of what your job will be. I know some Elphabas who call out almost every matinee and that's what they need to do. But then others really don't ever call out. But regardless, this means I am at the theater every day (not green, everyone asks me that 😂).

Q: How do you, how do you manage your expectations, knowing you're there but you may not perform?

A: It's really complicated. I think if you talk to any swing, standby, or alternate, they will all feel similarly. When I can zoom out and just look at the reality of this job and realize how cool it is that I get to sit backstage and get work done, do study hall and when I need to go on, I get to perform this amazing role that is so rewarding.

But there are absolutely times when it feels so isolating because you don't feel the sense of camaraderie of doing the show and performing with people every single day. It can be hard to reckon with the fact you know what you are meant to do and what you know you're so good at, but you're not doing it...but you are...but you're not...

 But I was reflecting on this just last night actually. As a standby, I leave halfway through Act two, because usually by that point they know she's good and won't be calling out. So I can go home, but every once in a while I'll stay until the end of the show maybe because I'm waiting to walk with a friend home or whatever. But then this means I'm leaving during stage dooring when I haven't been on, so it feels crazy to leave the theater and have all these fans ask for my autograph when I wasn't on stage. Or not ask, which is fine, but especially when they do ask, there is just this constant thing you're battling, which is like, I'm a part of this, but also don't ask for my autograph because I don't wanna lie to you - I wasn't on stage. 

You're expected to be at such a high caliber when you do get asked to do the hardest part of your job, which is playing the hardest role in musical theater history at the drop of a hat. And then when you're not on, you're dealing with all those nuanced, "Grateful to be here but am I being used in the best way possible? But so grateful to have a job, but I don't feel a part of it sometimes, but I definitely am a part of it..."

Q: Let's back up a little bit and return to the timeline. You're coming out of Something Rotten and I [Chelsea] remember very distinctly telling you that I think you'd be a really great voice teacher. So, how did you finally get into voice teaching?

A: Chelsea told me I'd be a good voice teacher and I knew I had always thought that I would love to teach voice one day, but I "can't" because I couldn't play piano.

 But then while I was on the road with Something Rotten, I was playing Bea and it's just one of those roles, like Elphaba, that young women really relate to and love. So I was getting a lot of women at the stage door and, and messages in my Instagram asking how I sang eight shows a week, for warm-up tips, what I did to keep my voice healthy and it just sort of got me thinking about how I would be done with tour soon and that coaching would be fun.

It became clear to me very quickly that I was either gonna be a coach where I did like acting through songs, or I was going to need to get certified (because nothing is worse than voice teachers who are great singers but don't know how to teach the art of singing). So Chelsea helped set me up and I got certified with the Institute for Vocal Advancement, which totally transformed my teaching and that's how that all started back in 2019.

Q: You've been on TikTok now going on three years - share with us a bit on how that changed your life and business. 

A: It started as a way to grow my business as the pandemic hit and I started teaching full-time, which I was loving. But, I wanted more students and as so many voice teachers know, getting students to know and trust you is one of the hardest parts of the job.

I was teaching all online and Chelsea happened to let me know about TikTok and that it's great for educational purposes, and I've always liked social media, so I was excited about the possibilities.

So I started filming little things and it took off really, really fast. It was early in the days of TikTok too, so that helped as well. In the beginning, it was just tips and tricks and I was hoping to garner some students and it grew from there. It got to a point where so many people were wanting lessons that I didn't have enough hours in the day, and I took on two associate teachers to teach for my studio, which transformed into the seven associate teachers at EKM Studio that I have now.

The social media sphere has given me this amazing opportunity to reach a group of people that share similar values and has completely built my business where I'm able to do master classes and I'm recognized on the street. I think it's easy to roll your eyes at TikTok and social media in general, but if you can lead with authenticity, it can be an incredible opportunity builder. 

Find Kristen at emilykristenmorris.com,  and on Instagram and Tik Tok @emilykristenmorris

If you're interested in diving deeper into this interview or exploring other interesting musical theatre conversations - check out the Broadway Vocal Coach podcast! Or check us out on Instagram, and get involved in the conversation! 

Are you a musical theatre performer and wondering what your next step should be? Take our Quiz - we can’t wait to hear your story and help you take the next step in your career.